“What now?” whimpered Thorn.
Merrie tore her gaze away from Bass and peered across the remains of the great hall. Rubble and shattered wood covered the polished wood floor. Spilled beer mixed in with the blood and broken glass. A few of the ceiling panels had fallen down in the middle and the main table listed to the side.
On the far side, Piffin and Thorn stood against the wall, surrounded by the pack of bitches. The bitches' naked bodies shook violently as they stared back at Merrie and Bass with wide eyes and tears running down their cheeks. Licker was wrapped around Thorn's leg, crammed into the space between his knees and the wall behind him. Her dark fur shook with her shaking.
Merrie reached out and scanned across their thoughts. When she found no pain or agony in their minds, she let out a shuddering breath. They were frightened, each and every one of them, but she could help with that. She gathered up a sense of comfort and compassion and set it out. It was a false emotion, but she it was the first thing she could think of. The emotion rippled across the hall and washed up against the whimpering women.
As one, the noises stopped and she felt two dozen sets of eyes focus on her. Sama's thoughts came back up through her, they knew it was her when she projected. She squirmed under the desperate looks and felt their need for her to join them, to touch them. They wanted her and they needed her. She was the anchor in their life right now.
She didn't deserved it. She couldn't save Sama. She was in a position to stop it: she knew what was happening and she panicked instead of rushing to her side. She could have done something. A thousand different actions flashed through her mind, a thousand ways of saving Sama. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks as she wilted under the bitches' desperation.
(Got to keep Merrie from the others.) Borias' thoughts halted Merrie's tears. He pushed himself away from a pillar. He held one end of a strip of fabric in his teeth as he pulled it tight around his arm. Blood seeped through the fabric in seconds but he made no effort to use healing magic on it.
Merrie gasped and stared at him. He was looking around the room and inspecting the damage. Even from a few meters away, she could feel his emotions–guilt and anger–boiling with a clarity that it frightened her. There was nothing between them, no shields and no defenses. She wanted to comfort him, to help the aching pain in his heart. She felt her body tingling as she reached out for him mutely, tears burning in her eyes as she fought an intense urge to just reach out with more than her physical form.
(I must keep Merrie safe,) though Borias. His thoughts were clear, but there was something different about his mental words, (I bet guilt is tearing her in half and we are all feeling the same thing.) Overlaying the words came other knowledge. Borias had read about the alpha bonding process and the abstract concepts filtered through his thoughts.
Strong emotions triggered the bonding process. She had already encountered a few of them: love for Bass and fear of Grange. Weeks ago, Merrie wouldn't think guilt as an emotion but as she knelt there, she could understand the hunger to apologize and the desperate need to be held. It was an emotion in itself and one that tore at her heart.
(And my shields are down. She likes me and I've fallen for her. Damn it, the one person who needs me is the one I can't save. It's like Cici all over again!) An intense swelling of sadness rippled through their empathic connection. Borias was torn by an intense desire to comfort her and pulled back by the realization that if he touched her, there was nothing to stop them from bonding.
Merrie gasped as she realized her body was tingling. There was a thin trail of light forming between them. It connected their hearts together and she felt the first of his cannibalistic desires beginning to filter through the connection. Unwittingly, her eyes drifted to a large shard of glass on the ground between them, wondering what it would feel like to have it dragged across her throat.
With a shudder, she knew she was bonding, but she didn't know how to stop it. When it happened before, it was Sable or Dixie that stopped her. She shuddered at the remembered pain of them biting her on the shoulder, the teeth slashing into flesh. She drew her eyes back to the glass, a terrible hunger to have it slicing through her flesh.
Tears ran down her cheeks as Merrie backed away from Borias.
Their eyes met and she almost lost it when she saw the sadness in his eyes. He knew what was happening.
(Please don't,) he thought simply.
Merrie backed against the wall and shattered glass crunched underneath her knees. She could feel the sharp edges against the severed ends of her wrists, but it was flat to the ground and the sharp edges only enhanced the longing to be cut. Her tail thumped against the wall as she tried to back away in an attempt to get further away.
(Please don't die for me, Merrie.)
She looked down at the glass at her feet. Sable stopped the bonding with pain. She remembered the sharp teeth and being thrown through a door. Trembling, she reached down with one severed arm and poked the glass. The glittering point lifted up and she stared at the sharp edge.
His thoughts were clearer. (What do I do? I can't bond with her, it would kill both of us. Can I get Sable's attention? No, I can't take her away from Bass. Or Dixie's? Damn the gods. Maybe I should let her? I deserve that since I didn't agree when Mother suggested we give remote access to the collars. I could have known he was killing her then. Maybe death is what I deserve…)
Merrie closed her eyes tightly as she fought against the despair filling her. He felt just as guilty as her. Both of them blamed themselves for Sama's death and she felt a double-measure of the anger, hopelessness, and grief. She lifted her right arm and slammed it down to distract her.
Pain broke the connection. She looked down to see that she had sliced her arm along the shard of glass. Bright blood flowed down the glass, leaving a sheet of crimson. The charm around her neck flickered to life, healing the injury, but that brief moment of cleansing agony had broken the tenuous connection between her and Borias.
She peeked up at him through the hair across her face.
Borias was watching her carefully, wary and sad and frustrated himself. She knew that she could reach out and read his thoughts, but it would also bind them closer. Instead, with tears in her eyes, she shook her head and backed away from him. She used her tail to feel along the wall until she got to one of the gaping holes in the wall. With a quiet sob, she backed out of the great hall and around the corner to get out of sight from him.
“Thank you,” whispered Borias.
She almost reached out for him, damn the consequences. She let out a sob and pressed her back against the wall, still close to Borias but unable to do anything besides hide.
“Damn it,” he whispered before he raised his voice. “You all be listening to me now, k?”
Merrie realized the difference. Borias' speech was different in his thoughts. He thought without difficulty unlike the pidgin he spoke. She missed the “be” and “me” in his mind. It didn't sound like Borias to her though it was the same voice.
“The boss is feeling off right now. You all be leaving him alone until he speak to you. Tabby be killing the fucker who did this, so we be leaving her alone. Piffin, Thorn.”
Thorn whimpered.
Merrie focused on Bass and Sable. They were drawn tightly to each other. Sable looked up at her master and stroked his leg. Bass held her tightly, his skin still pale as he shook.
Inside, Borias continued. “You be taking the bitches to your rooms. No need to be fucking them, unless they want it. If they beg, then fuck them good, k? No training, but you be giving them comfort or time alone. No be talking about what happened, k?”
“Hilfe? Please be grabbing a cask of beer and be serving it. I think everyone be needing a drink. Get the special stuff in the dark barrel. Garcon?”
Garcon grunted. “I have to fix these walls before they collapse.”
“Good man.”
In the yard, Bass stood up and swayed back and forth. He lifted his yellow eyes up to the mill house. He wasn't looking at the great hall, but the rooms above it. Merrie didn't need telepathy to know what he was thinking.
“Boss? You be ok… alive?”
“I must do something.” His voice was a low growl. “I have to do this.”
“And I be never stopping you.”
Merrie peeked around the corner as Bass walked into the great hall. The thriban clapped Borias on the shoulder as he passed. He said nothing else as he walked to the ruined door of the great hall and then up the stairs. As one, the bitches and trainers of the room lifted their head as he headed up the stairs and followed his slow, heavy footsteps as he walked toward Grange's room.
“Piffin?” asked Borias with his eyes still fixed on the ceiling.
“Yes?”
“When the boss be done, get Seven. Grange be hurt him and he be seeing what happened. You be kind, k? And you be liking boys as much as girls where Thorn don't like the boy bitches.”
“What about Happy Cunt? She just ran off.” Piffin gestured toward Merrie and she ducked back around the corner.
Merrie shivered at her assigned name. She looked out in the yard, at the rubble and the blood and the impact craters. Sable sat in the middle, her shoulders slumped as she followed Bass' movements with her eyes.
“Cunt be a good girl and she won't run. But, she be in danger of bonding, so she be taking herself out. No one touches her, k? She be needing comfort, and be needing a hug, but you not be having shields. She will bond with you. That be including the bitches. No touching Merrie.”
Thorn spoke up, his voice torn with sadness and guilt. “What about you?”
Borias chuckled. “You think I be lazy? No, I need be getting my shields back. Need about two hours of meditation, and then I be getting Cunt back and taking the load off. We split the duties and bitches until Bass… quiet.”
The steady thump of Bass' boots filled the air. He was coming down the stairs. It was a slow, measured beat and she could almost feel his grief.
In the yard, Sable got on her cropped limbs but stood there waiting. Her tail was down, pressed against her thigh as she shifted in place.
Merrie peeked back around the wall again.
A moment later, Bass walked out the front door. He had a blood-stained sheet wrapped around Sama's body. Her breasts were pressed against the fabric and one hand stuck out the side. She was tiny and frail against Bass' bulk. And there was no question that she was dead.
At the sight of her, Merrie sobbed. She failed her friend, her bitch. She couldn't rush to save her like Tabitha, or have magic to stop it. She couldn't do anything but watch and now, as she watched Bass cross the yard, she realized that Sama's death was part of her fault.
Sable turned as Bass passed her and followed silently behind him. Her tail was down against her thigh and she moved with the same pace as Bass.
Inside, footsteps came into the room and Rendi spoke up in a voice barely containing her own emotions. “Bori, I had to heal and sedate Seven. Could you?”
“Piffin be getting him, mother, thank you.”
“You're hurt.”
“Bleeding don't be bothering me.”
“Don't be your father and come over here.”
“Moth-”
“Now!”
Borias said nothing for a moment. “All right, you guys be doing what I ask?”
Merrie watched as Bass took Sama to the side yard and into the woods. Sable followed, but paused at the tree line to look back at the house. Her eyes scanned the damage but stopped as she met with Merrie's gaze.
(Come.)
Merrie crawled across the ground, the grass tickling her thighs and breasts. She had never been to that side of the mill. She found the path after a few moments, but it was overgrown and thick with weeds. If it wasn't for the broken branches, she would have never gone there. Her throat and chest felt tight as she gave the house one last look and crawled into the underbrush.
She crawled blindly for almost five minutes before the path opened up into a fenced-in clearing. The rusted gate was open and the ground beneath it torn from where Bass ripped the vine-wrapped metal out of place. Inside, the grass was tall and thick.
Holding her breath, Merrie stepped inside and felt a sense of sorrow radiating from the place. She inched forward as she looked around. She knew Sable and Bass were there, she could feel them, but there was something else inside the fence.
She found it quickly. A carved timber planted in the ground. It was about a meter in height. Down the front side was a name and a date from five years before. “Titty Fuck.” It was like the white stakes in the ground, but this one was far larger and worn smooth by weather. Carved next to the puppy name was another: Tamara Kings, Beloved Daughter.
It took her a moment to realize that it was a burial marker. She looked around and saw more. She forced her way through the thick grass to the second. It read “Stuffed and Fucked” and had the same date. The second inscription, carved years after the first, was “Wendi Garasonmor, Beloved Daughter and Wife.”
The third was “Over-Stuffed Cunt” and it also had the same date. There was no other name on it. Morbidly, she looked at the fourth and the fifth. They both shared the same day but they both a puppy name and a human name.
Merrie sat back on her legs and pushed herself up to look over the grass. She saw Bass and Sable at the far corner of the cemetery. There were nine burial markers in total and somehow she knew that all of them had the same date. Something had happened fifteen years before, something that killed nine bitches in a single day.
She inched closer to get a look at the last one, then stopped when Sable half-turned to her.
The alpha pulled back her lip in a silent snarl and Merrie froze. Sable gestured for her to back off with one severed arm. When Merrie didn't move, she repeated the gesture curtly.
Behind Sable, Bass had taken off his shirt and found a shovel. Methodically, he was framing out a grave by slamming the blade of the shovel in the ground and slicing through the sod and leaves. The line looked like it was bleeding black dirt as he worked his way around to shape a rectangle.
Merrie inched back, her gaze moving from alpha to trainer and back again.
She backed over four meters away before Sable relaxed and put down her leg. Merrie slumped to the ground and watched Bass digging out Sama's grave through a thick screen of grass.
Bass worked without words. He never looked around him or acknowledge Merrie's presence. He didn't even glance at Sable. Instead, he finished cutting out the shape and started to dig the hole. Powerful muscles drove the shovel blade into the earth and he pulled it out. Leaning to the side, he dropped it about a meter from the edge, away from Sama's body. His pale face spoke of his inner thoughts, of the devastation and guilt; Merrie could only imagine what was going on in his head but she couldn't risk finding out.
Merrie wanted to comfort him and it tore her heart that she couldn't. She kept her thoughts in her own head and focused on watching the shovel, not him. Her own guilt rattled around in her head, endlessly repeating Sama's last thoughts and her own inability to save her.
A howl cut through the air. Merrie jerked at the sound. A moment later, there was a dull boom that rumbled through the trees.
Bass stopped and looked up at the sky. “Kill the fucker, Tabby,” he whispered. His face was dry of tears now, but the guilt and anger remained. He got a fresh grip on the shovel and slammed it back into the ground. The pile of dirt on the side continued to grow, shovel by shovel.
Time stretched slowly and Merrie continued into a spiral of despair. She felt her thoughts growing dark with depression and she realized she was berating herself. To her mind away, she pushed herself to her knees and wrists. Careful to circle around Bass, she pushed her way through the grasses and past the burial markers. She didn't know where she was going but she had to be somewhere.
And then she came on Sama's body. The sheet had sunk against the corpse and Merrie could see Sama's tail and her limbs outlined by the stained fabric. A lock of hair stuck out one end and her toes from another.
Seeing Sama, sorrow welled up inside her. Merrie bit back a sob and backed away. She let the grasses bounce back between her and the body, a shield against the death she was responsible for.
Merrie stopped. She couldn't back away, not after failing Sama. With tears in her eyes, she inched forward. The grass cut along her nipples and side as she crawled through it. Reaching Sama's body, she looked over the prone form and realized she would never lick Sama's cunt or ride her face again. They were strangers only a few weeks before, but she was part of her life now, her pack, her bitch.
A morbid desire to see Sama one last time filled her. Trembling, she reached out to push back the sheet. It took a moment to get the severed end of her wrist underneath the fabric.
Just as she was lifting it, Sable's arm pushed Merrie's arm down. Merrie stared at the amputated arm ending at the elbow for a long moment before she let her gaze rise up to Sable's face.
Sable shook her head, but there was a sad smile on her face.
Merrie whimpered softly.
Sable crawled around Sama and came up to Merrie. Lifting one short arm, she draped it over Merrie and guided her to the ground. For a moment, Merrie froze with Borias' warning in her head, but she couldn't feel Sable's emotions. Like Borias, Sable had a shield, but Sable's was a tightly bound rope ball instead of the smooth resistance of Borias' shield.
Relaxing, Merrie let Sable guide her to the ground and she laid on her stomach, staring through the grass as Bass. She leaned into Sable, feeling comforted by the alpha. She wondered if Sable was projecting, but she couldn't feel anything. It was just two bitches holding each other as their master dug a grave.
The floodgates opened and Merrie began to sob.
Sable held her tighter. “It's okay,” she whispered in her smooth, smokey voice. “It's okay.”
Merrie shook her head and opened her mouth, used to speaking freely with Borias. She closed it and leaned tighter against Sable. Their breasts ground together as Merrie found a comfortable position.
“Good girl,” came the almost inaudible whisper against her ear. Sable's hot breath tickled Merrie's earlobe.
Merrie let out a long sigh. It would never be okay, but for the moment, she couldn't do anything but cry. She was helpless to do anything but watch. Her tail curled up against Sable's leg.
Together, they watched Bass dig the grave. Merrie found comfort in being held and let her mind doze off, not thinking of anything except for the steady chunk of the shovel and the thud of dirt.
(Sable,) Dixie's thoughts came drifting through Merrie's mind. He was furious and the anger boiled in him.
(Did you get him?) Sable responded in a hard, tight thought. Neither thought was directed toward Merrie, but she could hear them with startling clarity.
A memory came up of Tabitha and Grange racing along as wolves. They were following the sweet trail of fresh blood as they jumped over the fence of the lands. Grange was on his knees in a puddle of bloody mud as he frantically dug through the earth. Tabitha accelerated with a growl, magic fueling her speed as she punched forward. She caught Grange in the shoulder and there was a wet snapping noise as his left arm was torn from his body.
Grange let out a scream of pain as he tumbled back. A high arch of blood flashed into the air.
Dixie lunged after him, aiming to break his knee and give his mistress the kill.
Grange fumbled for the ground and grabbed something. It was a small glass tube covered in dirt and blood. He brandished it like a weapon.
Dixie didn't care, he had to kill him.
With a smile, Grange snapped the tube and there was a flash of magic. The impact threw Dixie back and stars exploded across his vision.
(Fuck!) screamed the memory of Tabitha, echoing through his memory and sent a bolt of fear through Merrie.
Frantic, Dixie scrambled back to his paws but Grange was gone. Only a smoking crater remained.
There was a long moment after the memory ended. Dixie's thoughts were seething with anger and hatred.
Bass froze for a moment, his shoulders tightening. Merrie watched as he clamped down on his jaw and then slammed the shovel into the ground. He hauled a large hunk of earth and dug faster.
(That was a teleport spell,) came Sable's frustrated thoughts.
(Yes. It smelled like the same magic as the mage who helped us get this pack.) There was contempt for the other bitches at the mill, but Merrie realized that she wasn't included in Dixie's contempt.
(A side deal?)
(His death,) came the bitter thought from Dixie. (No matter what your master says, Tabitha will not let that mage live if he steps on the mill territory again.)
Merrie felt despair fill her. Grange got away. It wasn't fair.
Sable's breath remained steady, but her emotions were boiling inside her head. She shifted slightly and hugged Merrie tighter. (My master cannot allow that. You know his promise of hospitality if he reaches the threshold.)
(He will never make it to the front door alive.)
Sable's breath was hot against Merrie's ear. (Then no promises will be broken.) There was a hard conviction in Sable's declaration.
Dixie's thoughts were filled with cruel anticipation. Imagines of the mage, a thin man with a gray beard, rose up as the tiny silfae pictured him being torn apart by teeth and magic.
(Grange will be back,) thought Sable.
(You think?) Dixie's thoughts were wary. (My mistress tore his arm off.)
Sable shifted slightly. If Merrie couldn't hear their thoughts, she would have never known the two alphas could communicate so effortlessly. And they were skilled at it; when Merrie communicated with others, the thoughts were inconsistent and overlapping, but the two alphas projected with focus and a clarity.
(There is too much anger in that man. Too much hatred for my master—)
(And my mistress.)
(Yes. But, he is also greedy. He will come for the little one.) An image of Merrie lying next to Sable drifted up.
(When?)
Sable lifted her head to look at Bass. (Days, maybe a week or so. Before the dog show at least. She is worth too much unbonded and the county fair will be too well protected. If he does it, it will be in the next few weeks.)
(He will die,) came Dixie's mental growl.
(Don't be cocky, Warlord of Blood River.)
Merrie twitched slightly at the name. It sounded familiar.
Sable's thoughts continued, (He knows our weaknesses. He used my master's promises against him. He used both Borias' geas and your mistress' love for the pack in a fight.)
(My mistress doesn't love these pathetic bitches,) snapped Dixie but it wasn't as confident as the rest of his thoughts.
Sable said nothing but Merrie heard a whispered chuckle. After a moment of watching Bass dig, she thought, (Grange must have planned this for too long. A teleport spell isn't cheap. He planned this. Therefore, he is a threat to our pack.)
(He must be killed.)
(My master and I agree.)
Behind Merrie, grasses brushed against fur as Dixie came up. Merrie tensed as she could feel Dixie's attention wash over her for a moment.
(Do you need the little one?)
Dixie's panting tickled the ends of Merrie's legs. She felt vulnerable even though she couldn't see him. (My mistress needs a real hunt, a kill. She needs to tear into someone's guts and feel the flesh ripping in her teeth.)
Merrie shivered at the intensity of the images that came from the silfae. They were visceral and bloody, violence incarnate. She felt her body growing warm with anticipation.
(Merrie has the charm.)
Dixie inched closer. (Rendi's regeneration charm is too limited. This body of hers is weak, pathetic.) An image of Merrie from his view came up. Merrie didn't recognize herself as the amputated woman on the grass in his image. She was trimmed and healthy, with a firm body and a tail against her legs. Her pussy was visible and swollen with an almost constant need for pleasure. (As much as the bitch tried to steal my mistress, this is something she can't do.)
(You?)
(We have a connection that even the beta can't match. My mistress can bring me to a knife's edge of death and stop before it is too late. I can survive being disemboweled… again.) Another memory rose up, of Dixie on his knees and armored in a strange wooden armor. His guts were pouring out of his stomach as he stared up at the towering human with defiance. Even as the pain cut through his body, he was pulling out a poisoned dagger from his side…
Merrie tensed up at the intense images. Her body grew hot as it fought against the remnants of Borias' desires and the remembered scent of blood and bile.
(She is listening.) Dixie's thoughts slammed into Merrie.
Merrie inhaled sharply and felt a shiver of shame.
(Are you sure?)
(I can smell her cunt.) The breath grew hotter as Dixie inched forward. Merrie fought the urge to spread her legs. (I can hear her quickening breath.) He continued forward and his furry paw planted between her severed shins. (I can see the tension in her muscles as she responds.)
Sable lifted her head and looked back at Dixie. (Then stop being a dick.)
(She tried to steal my mistress.) Jealousy burned in his thoughts. (I can't share her. I won't.)
Sable shook her head. (She won't bond with your mistress just as I won't let her bond with my master.) Sable lowered her head and Merrie felt the brown eyes focusing on her.
Merrie peeked over and blushed.
Sable smiled broadly and focused her attention on Merrie. It felt like Merrie was in a spotlight. (Hello, little one.)
Merrie blushed hotter. She opened her mouth, then closed it. (Hello.)
(You have a pretty voice.) Sable opened her mouth and panted.
(Eh, humans have terrible voices. They sound like they are talking out of their asses,) grumbled Dixie as the wolf stepped over Merrie and slumped to the ground on the other side of Merrie. His furry body shook from his panting. With a shift, he pressed his side against Merrie and pinned her body against Sable.
Amusement colored Sable's thoughts. (You're just jealous that they have bigger dicks.)
(And huge, flesh bags on their chests. Give me a pair of firm, small tits any day. My mistress is the only perfection here.)
(What about Licker's new form?)
(Okay, the young bitch is almost sexy.)
Merrie shivered at the touch. The two alphas were comforting and their thoughts distracting from her own despair. She felt herself growing warmer at the closeness.
(What's your name, little one?)
(Merrie. Merrie Golddother.)
Sable reached over and kissed her on the lips. She let the touch linger as she projected, (I was born Clarissa de Kilvin, from the lands of Count Gidiffa. But, for the last fifteen years or so, I'm just Sable.)
Merrie heard of Count Gidiffa but the count died when Merrie was a young girl.
Leaning into her, Sable kissed her again. (And my companion is-)
(I can introduce myself, bitch,) shot Dixie.
Sable chuckled and broke the kiss. (You better look at him, Merrie, he likes eye contact. It adds to the impact.)
Merrie shivered and turned her head. She found Dixie's intense gaze terrifying even thought she knew there was no anger in them.
(I am the Warlord of Blood River. Conqueror of the southern lands of Franome and Dorza. I razed the city of Polouse to the and killed every living being inside it.) As he thought, images came along with it, memories of battle and blood. (I took on the Mordak, the God of Battle, and won. I felt his beating heart in my hands as I ripped it from his chest.)
Merrie felt sick as she realized he was being literal. His memories were intense as he projected them into her head.
(I am the thief of the god blade, Kin Cutter. I killed a hundred men in a day and executed thousands for breakfast.) He lifted his head as he leaned over her.
Merrie cringed away from him, her body growing hot with fear.
(I took on the pathetic armies of this kingdom and slaughtered them. The rivers ran with the blood from my army and I was going to kill all of you pathetic… soft… humans.)
His lips curled back in a snarl.
Merrie whimpered at the anger directed at her. She felt helpless against him and the familiar curl of pleasure mixed in with the fear.
There was a faint pause.
(But, you can call Dixie.)
Amusement radiated from Sable as Dixie relaxed and slumped his head back on the ground. A moment later, Merrie felt Dixie's smug amusement filling her.
Merrie blinked at the sudden change in attitude. She shook her head for a moment. (What happened?)
Dixie lifted an eyebrow to look at her, then focused back on Bass digging the grave. (I met an opponent I couldn't beat: cancer.)
(What—?)
In the distance, a howl cut through the air. It was filled with anger and rage. Merrie could just catch the intensity of Tabitha's emotions on the edge of her senses, a storm about to break.
Dixie stood up with a sigh. (That is not a story for today.) He braced himself and the connection between him and Tabitha flared up as he sent a pulse of energy down it. He turned to Sable. (I promise you and your master, we will kill Grange if he comes back.)
(All of us,) Sable's thoughts were hard once again, (will kill him.)
Merrie felt Dixie's pulse of energy stop, gather power inside Tabitha, and shoot back toward him. It was colored with anger and rage but also a desire that couldn't be worded. She looked at Dixie, wondering what it would do.
Dixie looked at her. His high-pitched but somehow gruff thoughts filled her head. (Don't bond with anyone here… pet.)
Tabitha's reflected power slammed into his form. The world slowed down as it started at his head. The dark brown and gray fur turned into a warm brown. His body grew taller as his legs stretched out. Hooves formed at his feet as he stretched high above Merrie. His barrel chest shrunk with his transformation and his muzzle dwindled down and forming into a delicate rounded tip. The magic continued to course along his body. Antlers sprouted from his head as his wolf form was transformed into a ten-point buck. It reached his tail and ended with a pop and shower of magic.
Dixie shook his head as he pawed the ground next to Merrie. (Time to die.) He stepped away from Sable and Merrie and accelerated into a run. A heartbeat later, he leaped over the fence and was gone with a flash of his tail.
Sable stared after him for a long moment. (Is he really going to die?)
(No,) thought Sable, (but Tabitha will probably tear out his throat, rip off his legs, and slash open his belly.)
Merrie whimpered at the thought. She knew that she would do anything Tabitha needed for pleasure, but she didn't thinks she could ever do that. (Why?)
Sable pulled her into a hug and Merrie turned her head to look at her.
(When you bond, all that matters is your master or mistress. Their pleasure, their needs. Your powers come from that submission. The telepathy and the shape-shifting are all to serve your master. The more you submit, the more you get.)
Merrie's mouth opened in surprise. (I-I'll be able to shape-shift?)
Sable leaned forward. Their lips met and Sable forced Merrie's mouth apart and flicked her tongue inside as they kissed. (We all have powers in different measures. Dixie can transform better than me and Lanisai.)
(Lanisai?)
(My master and Borias call her Kessler's bitch. Lanisai can barely shift her shape but she got elemental powers. She is invulnerable to fire and doesn't need to breathe.)
Merrie couldn't picture it. (What can you do?)
Sable smiled and kissed her again, more forcefully. (I like to ride pretty bitches' faces and I'm a damn good fuck.)
Amusement rippled through Merrie's thoughts. She knew Sable didn't answer the question. (That isn't a power, Sable.)
(Really?) Another kiss. (I guess I haven't figured out my powers yet.)
It was a lie, but Merrie didn't want to push. She let her thoughts grow inward, toward the familiar despair but it was gone. The pain of Sama's death was muted by Sable's presence. She found someone who understood what she was going through. She pulled back and kissed Sable passionately. (Thank you.)
(For what, little one?)
(You were comforting me, weren't you?)
Amusement and love. Sable nipped Merrie's nose. (Both of us were, but in our own way.)
(Why?)
(Because you're pack. Because you're almost an alpha. Or simply because you are just like us. You are family for as long as you are here.)
(But, it was my own fault that-)
(No!) Sable froze and shook her head. (Never finish that thought. What happened to Silly Tits-)
(Sama.) Merrie ran through her brief time sharing memories with Sama. (Her name was Sama Millsdotter.) She sent the first words they share together.
(Sama? Thank you.) There was a faint pause in Sable's mental thoughts as the alpha focused on her master.
Bass stood up and turned around. There was a surprised look on his face. “Her name was Sama?”
Merrie nodded.
Relief flooded across his face. “Thank you… damn it, Borias isn't suppose to use your real name. But,” he crawled out of the grave and took a step.
Sable tensed and growled at Bass.
Bass froze and held up his hands. He nodded to Sable, then focused on Merrie. “Thank you… Merrie.”
Merrie's body trembled at her name, the sweet seduction of her name sent a tiny orgasm to ripple along her skin. She never thought Bass would say it. Despite the horror of the events that lead up to it, she hungered for that single name again.
Brushing his hands off, Bass headed out of the garden.
(My master is making the burial marker. We don't know the bitches names because we kidnap them. We call them demeaning names like Cunt, Tits, and Sloppy Balls,) an image of Dixie came up. (But, when they die, my master gives them closure by giving back their real names.)
Merrie though about the other grave markers. (What about…) The thought died in her head as she felt Sable tensing. Sorrow burned in the alpha's thoughts. Merrie gulped. (I'm sorry.)
(No, little one,) Sable's tension faded, (this is just not a story for today.) Sable leaned over and kissed Merrie on the nose. (Guilt is a terrible thing. All of us blame ourselves for what happened to Sama, but what happened here before-)
The memory came up of the freshly tilled garden inside the fence. Bass was there, covered in bandages and injuries. He could barely walk but he moved with the same determination that he used to dig Sama's grave. Deep slashes covered his body along with bruises and burns. He slammed the ninth log at the head of the grave as the memory faded.
Sable let out a soft, shuddering breath. (That was entirely our fault. Me and my master's. One death is terrible, but we lost nine bitches that day because I was too weak.)
Merrie wrapped her arms around Sable's curvy form. (I'm sorry.)
(Even after fifteen years, those wounds still hurt. Ask Borias, he knows the story and… it won't kill him for his telling. Ask him about the Sable Incident, that is what he calls it.)
Merrie felt Sable discomfort and guilt. She reached up and licked Sable's nose.
Sable chuckled and licked her back, her arm tightening around Merrie as they held each other together.
Voices drifted through the woods. “… know better than to say her real name in front of the bitches.”
“I be knowing,” said Borias with a dry chuckle, “but once known, I not be unknowning it. It be an accident, boss. And it be a fight that I thought I be dying in.”
“I won't let you die. Just be careful, Bori. There is more than just Merrie here.”
“Aye, aye, boss. I be remembering that with the next alpha we be getting.”
Merrie sent a thought to Sable. (Is Borias in trouble?)
(Calling you Happy Cunt is to remind you that your life has changed. You are a bitch now, a sex slave, and someone who will be sold in a few weeks. Using your given name, even in passing, breaks that training and makes it harder for you to accept your new life.)
(Like when he lets me talk?)
Sable smiled and kissed her back. (Bitches don't talk.)
Merrie withdrew. She thought about Sable's words. She knew the alpha could talk any time she wanted to, she just choose not to. Dixie had his hands and feet and could stand up, but like Sable, he continued to crawl on his hands and knees even when he was in a hurry. They were acting like dogs because it was their nature and choice, not because they couldn't. (I'm doing it wrong. I didn't mean to—)
(No,) Sable thought with another kiss, (it gets easier with time.)
“Okay, Bori, I'm done lecturing you,” Bass said as he brought a log into the cemetery. Sama's two names were already carved into it along with the date. He dropped it by the pit. “Help me, please?”
Borias followed after with a shovel. He stripped off his shirt and set the shovel next to Bass. Together, they headed for Sama's body.
(Please back up,) asked Sable.
Merrie got up and crawled back. She felt the sadness welling up but the comfort the two alphas gave her helped with the knife edge of guilt. She sat on her shins as she watched Bass and Borias pick up Sama's body and reverently set it down inside the grave.
A tear ran down Merrie's cheek as both men said a whispered prayer, one after the other. When they were finished, no one said anything for a few moments.
Then Borias picked up the shovel. Bass picked up his. In silence, they began to fill in the grave.
It took almost an hour.
When the last of the grave was filled, Borias let out a sigh. “I better be relieving Piffin and Thorn.”
“Thank you, Bori.”
“We be what we be.” Borias held out his hand.
Bass grabbed Borias and pulled him into a tight hug, picking the mage completely off the ground. As the muscles tightened, Borias made a wheezing noise. After a long moment, Bass set him down. With a sigh, he patted Borias on the shoulder. “You're a good kid.”
Borias smiled. “I be having a good model.”
“Your father—”
“Not me father, you. Now, you be getting a girl and go have a nice threesome for a funeral. I be thinking… you be taking Ass Licker tonight. She be,” Borias leaned over to read the name, “Sama's other pack sister and be torn up in her heart. She be needing some comfort and cock.”
Bass scowled and shook his head. “Is she still furry?”
“No, the Lazarus switched again. She still be having all those pretty titties, but the hair be gone. Even her pussy be bare.”
“I hate fucking furries. Bitches should be hairless and sexy.”
“Even furry, Licker be very fuckable. But, it be Tabby's favorite charm for a reason. Tonight, old man,” Borias said with a smile, “you need some tight teenage cunt to help say goodbye.”
Bass glanced to the grave.
“And you,” Borias looked over at Sable, “pretty lady…”
Sable got into a begging position and barked.
“If the boss be getting all depressed, you remind him that he has bitches to fuck, mages to order around, and—”
“A man to kill,” finished Bass.
Sable barked and wagged her tail. Her entire body shook with her movement.
Borias smiled but there was no humor. “Aye. But, tonight, we need to be comforting and crying. Tomorrow, we plan.”
Bass stepped back and looked at Borias quizzically.
Borias caught the look and glanced around. “What?”
“When did you grow up?”
Borias shrugged. He gestured for Merrie as he stepped away from Bass. “I always be what I be. Sometimes, I just be more mature about it.”